Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT) Trading Up 5.6% - Here's What Happened

Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT - Get Free Report) shares were up 5.6% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $13.61 and last traded at $13.71. Approximately 327,440 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 3,058,720 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.98.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VSAT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Viasat from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Viasat from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on Viasat from $19.00 to $16.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. William Blair reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Viasat in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, B. Riley cut their target price on shares of Viasat from $56.00 to $52.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Viasat has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $19.00.

Viasat Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.28 and a beta of 0.98. The company's 50 day moving average price is $10.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Viasat

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Viasat by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 319,471 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $2,719,000 after buying an additional 5,573 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Viasat by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 413,122 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $3,516,000 after buying an additional 12,802 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Viasat by 75.3% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,950 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 1,267 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Viasat by 23.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,887,537 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $16,063,000 after buying an additional 364,072 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Viasat by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 25,947 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $221,000 after buying an additional 2,391 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.05% of the company's stock.

About Viasat

Viasat, Inc provides broadband and communications products and services worldwide. The company's Satellite Services segment offers satellite-based fixed broadband services, including broadband internet access and voice over internet protocol services to consumers and businesses; in-flight entertainment and aviation software services to commercial airlines and private business jets; satellite-based connectivity services; mobile broadband services, including satellite-based internet services to energy offshore vessels, cruise ships, consumer ferries, and yachts; and energy services, which include ultra-secure solutions IP connectivity, bandwidth-optimized over-the-top applications, industrial internet-of-things big data enablement, and industry-leading machine learning analytics.